


Recovered

by RoninReverie



Series: Old Kanera Fanfiction [13]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Extortion, F/M, LOK - Freeform, Lok Marathon, Slavery, Twi'leks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2019-04-26 05:49:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14395623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoninReverie/pseuds/RoninReverie
Summary: The Lok Marathon Arc: 1/2After being shot down by a vengeful Boba Fett, the Ghost crew takes refuge on the planet Lok, and wait for things to cool down. Shortly after arriving, Hera reconnects with a familiar face from her past.





	Recovered

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr: [Link!](http://roninreverie.tumblr.com/post/147277477369/recovered)
> 
>  **IMPORTANT!** This series was written before the second half of season 2 aired on television, so all content is based on my headcanons after season 1 and the "A New Dawn" novel.
> 
> Also: [Fanart!](http://roninreverie.tumblr.com/post/171235831769/a-daring-swoop-racer-on-the-planet-lok-named-jer)

“Oh Kanan, so nice of you to grace us with your presence on the holo-projector.”

“Hello Zal…” He rolled his eyes, only because he knew that she couldn’t see him do it, and added, “Well… we just got back into the sector and thought we’d give you a call while we pass by the service range.”

“Just passing by the sector?” She snorted. “You couldn’t stop for a visit?”

“Sorry,” Kanan rubbed the back of his neck.  _If he had ever known his mother, Kanan assumed that this would be what this sort of guilt felt like._  “We’re on route to a contact on Lothal right now… He’s got work set up for us, and it sounds like a good gig we can’t pass up.”

“Rol’juh dear!” Zaluna called, “Tell me, if my hand is pinching Kanan’s head or not… I can’t tell.”

“Hi Kanan!” the little yellow Twi’lek waved, her image completely blocking out Zaluna’s.

“Hey Rol’juh,” he smiled. “I hope things are going well for you on Kinyen.”

“They are!” she said, “Seela and Feen have already gotten part time jobs in Capra, and Shiri is working at a store nearby.”

Her voice was so much happier and brighter than when they’d left. It was evident that their lessons with Zaluna were affecting them in these short few weeks.

Kanan smiled.

“That’s good news.”

“Did you say that you found Miss Myder’s boyfriend on Lothal!?”

The Sullustan woman guffawed once and shoved the small girl off-screen. “Go on! Shoo!  _Shoo!_ Don’t you have homework or something!?” Zaluna waved her away as the young Twi’lek laughed out of view. 

She composed herself and then turned back to Kanan with a matter-of-fact tone in her voice, “He is  _not_  my boyfriend! I just think he has a nice voice is all… Hopefully Lothal treats Vizago well…”

Kanan cleared his throat, his fingers pinching at that spot on his nose where he often held in attempts to erase the last thirty seconds of his memory.

“I’m glad everyone is doing well,” he finally said in any attempt to steer their conversation back.

“Ah yes, do forgive young Rol’juh, she has become quite the handful since you left. She wants to become a pilot so she can join the rebellion one day like you two. I’m afraid you’ve gone and inspired the poor girl. She talks about you all the time.”

He wasn’t quite sure what to say at that.

“That’s— _good?_  I suppose?”

“I know you sent her here to be safe,  _but you know kids_ , you can’t hold on to them forever…” She snapped her fingers. “Speaking of which, how is our young artist, I trust you’ve found her by now, haven’t you?”

“We managed to recruit her actually,” Kanan smiled. “Her name is Sabine, and I think she’s really beginning to like it here. Call me crazy, but I think things are finally starting to look up for our crew.”

##  **_*CRASH!*_ **

Just after he said that a loud clatter erupted from across the ship followed closely by the shouting voices of Zeb and Sabine with a few cackling blips coming from Chopper.

“Well, for the most part—” Kanan added with a cringe.

The newer members of the crew had been having a hard time adjusting to this new, cramped lifestyle and living across the hall from one another. Each day was a new argument or some fight that never ceased to quell. From sunup to sundown the three were bickering about some new thing.

_Kanan did not know where they got the energy…_

Zal hummed to herself in an odd way, ignoring the clatter coming from Kanan’s end of the call before she finally spoke with a big, sneaky smile.

“Well isn’t that good news?” she smirked. “I’m sure you and Vizago will be working well together.”

“Zaluna Myder…” Kanan wasn’t fooled by her for a single second. “Did you know that Vizago was looking for someone to do his dirty work when he moved away?”

“Oh that is absurd!” She lied, “I would never… How would I even—You mentioned it first, didn’t you?”

“No,” Kanan grinned accusingly, “I said we had  _‘a contact on Lothal’_ but I never said that it was Vizago. You and Rol’juh filled that little tidbit in yourselves…”

“Coincidence! Pure coincidence!”

He watched her sweating nervously through the holocall with a smile and a silent laugh before a thought struck him and his teal stare glared back at the hologram with a sudden seriousness.

“Hold on a second, did you know about the Pink Nebula too!?”

“Oh!? What was that? I think you might be breaking up?” Zaluna jumped and fiddled with her communication switches, as her voice stammered and blurred out with the fading transmission.

“Zal!”

_“Oh—can’t—sorry—got—-run—goodbye!”_

And with that, the transmission shut off and Kanan rubbed at his face in distress.

“Of course…” he grumbled. He sighed once, long and heavy before shutting the Ghost’s holo-projector down and making his way to the front of the ship.

As Kanan roamed the halls, he sensed something was about to strike his face and ducked quickly, just narrowly dodging the flying debris flinging from Zeb and Sabine’s rooms. Chopper was laughing at the show, though Kanan couldn’t really tell whose side he was on. Odds are he was simply fueling their fire. Each had various pieces of junk littering the halls and they continued to throw things back and forth until Kanan finally got tired of dodging, and yelled…

“Hey! Calm down you two!” He shouted, before receiving a pillow to the side of his face.

He glared towards Zeb’s room, but the Lasat only pointed down at the orange droid that cackled deviously with absolutely zero sense of remorse.

Kanan growled lightly, but tossed the heavily decorated pillow back to Sabine, who caught it with a snarl and pointed over at Zeb’s room.

“Kanan! Tell Chopper to unlock Zeb’s door so I don’t have to keep looking at his face!” she yelled.

“Kanan,” Zeb pointed back. “Tell Sabine to stop spray painting all of her furniture! It’s stinking up the ship!”

“Hera said I could!” Sabine snapped. “And if Chopper wouldn’t have locked your door panel, you wouldn’t have to smell it!” She laughed and wafted the air around her nose. “Though, it would be an improvement if you ask me!”

He growled and chunked a book her way, which Kanan caught mid-flight, before the Ghost jolted and he took a step to regain his balance. Sabine and Zeb were quiet for a moment as the ship seemed to slow, but went straight back to complaining at Kanan just moments after as though nothing had happened.

He groaned and set the book on top of Chopper’s head, his voice a hum of disinterest… “Yeah…I don’t have time for this.”

Kanan skulked down the hall to escape the war that was brewing between the two rooms and made it to the cockpit where he saw Hera was sitting comfortably in her seat watching the stars pass slowly by the viewport. The doors shut out most of the muffled shouting as soon as they closed, and Kanan let out a sigh of relief as he took his place next to the pilot’s seat.

Hera offered him a sympathetic smile, followed closely by a cringe as another crash echoed down the hall.

“What are they fighting about now?” She sighed.

“I can’t even tell anymore…” He slid his face into the sanctuary of the Ghost’s dashboard. “If I’m remembering it right, this ship used to be a lot less lively not all that long ago.”

“Well, we’ll never be bored again, I suppose?” She laughed softly before turning towards her co-pilot and smirking. “By the way, how was the call to Zal?”

“Bout’ like you’d expect,” he said, returning the look with a grin of his own. “I think she knew about everything we’d be doing in these last few days and has basically been playing us this entire time.”

“What makes you say that?”

“For starters, she knew about Vizago needing workers on Lothal, and where Sabine was hiding out—” He paused and scratched his chin. “I think she even knew about the Pink Nebula and how we’d fly right into it if we timed our chase for Sabine just right.”

Hera stiffened at the mention of the Nebula, but played it off with an unimpressed roll of her eyes. 

“Typical…”

Kanan sensed the mood in the air and averted their attention to another question… “So, did you hear back from Vizago, yet?”

She shook her head, “No, not yet… I don’t think we’re going to get a good reading on the Broken Horn until we reach the Lothal Sector.”

“Can’t we just send out a holo-call?”

“No contact information, Kanan, we didn’t ask.” She shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait to find his frequency.”

“What can you do?” He leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes before asking, “So, where are we? Did you shut the hyperdrive off back there? We felt some turbulence in the back.”

“Yeah, we’re a couple of parsecs past the Sanctuary Pipeline,” she informed. “We’ll have to take it pretty slow until we pass the Cadavine Sector because the hyperspace lanes in this area are always tricky until you hit the Outer Rim.”

Kanan smirked and peeked one eye over in her direction.

“Have I ever told you that I love it when you talk like that?”

She gave him a look and rolled her eyes to hide her smile. “Well…notwithstanding, we’re going to be cruising for the rest of this sector, so get comfortable. We should be passing over Zhar any minute now, but other than that, it’ll be just us and the stars…”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

He sat back in the silence to do exactly that, but the muffled arguing was hard to ignore. That and this itching feeling that Kanan couldn’t shake from his mind. The last time he had a feeling like this—no—it couldn’t be—

##  **_PEW PEW! CRASH!_ **

The ship jolted roughly and Kanan nearly slammed into the dashboard before searching out their viewport at the empty space.  The Ghost’s alarms started to block out the silence and Kanan’s bad feeling started to grow stronger.

“Uh, Did we just get—”

“Shot at?” Hera finished, her voice was annoyed, but equally as curious. “Think so!”

The voices from the crew went quiet for the first time in days as the oncoming footsteps plundered up the hall, then the three of them came crashing into the control room in a frenzy.

“What was that!?”

“Are we under attack?”

“Who’s shooting at us!?”

Hera swerved the ship out of oncoming fire, the red blasts of light slipping past them as their mystery assailant came dangerously close to destroying them.

“Everyone strap in! I’m taking evasive action!” She shouted.

Sabine and Zeb shot to the nearest seat to buckle up as Chopper locked his feet to the floor and beeped rapidly for Hera to check the monitors.

“You think I don’t already know that!?” She yelled back at him.

“Who is that?” Zeb asked. “Why are they firing at us?”

“Oh no…” Hera groaned as soon as her eyes met the screen. “This is just what we need…”

Another shot shook the ship, and everyone lurched forward before Hera could stabilize them.

“Hera?” Kanan questioned. “Who’s shooting!?”

“Looks like we ran into one of your old friends, Kanan!” She groaned as the Ghost spun a full circle, the stray fire rocketing the ships right wing.

“Can you be a little more specific?” He swallowed back his nausea as the ship leveled. “We know a lot of people…particularly ones that are mad at me.”

“It’s your bounty hunter!” she shouted angrily, “The one from Tatooine! I’d recognize that ship anywhere.”

“Bounty hunter?” Sabine wondered.

“You mean that green guy that chased us out of the Hutt Palace?” Zeb pointed. “How did he find us?”

Kanan growled, “That’s just our luck!”

“He must have been Leaving Gall as we flew over,” she clicked her tongue and swerved the ship.

“What about your fancy cloaking thing?” Zeb complained. “I thought we couldn’t be recognized.”

“Doesn’t help if the guy knows what we look like, Zeb!”

“Doesn’t help that he’s a halfway decent bounty hunter either,” Sabine smirked.

Chopper grumbled at her as if to ask ‘whose side are you on?’

“I’ll go get in the canon!” Kanan stood, but was forced right back down as the Ghost fell out of the Fett’s range of fire.

“Can’t! Not with this guy on our tail—” Hera grumbled, “You’ll never make it back there. Just hold down until I lose him!”

“Who exactly is this guy?” Sabine wondered. “I need some answers over here…”

“Boba Fett!” Kanan spoke abruptly. “His name is Boba Fett, he’s just some lousy—”

“The Mandalorian!?” Sabine exclaimed, a bright new smile forming on her face as she fangirled further. “You mean to tell me that you guys met the actual Boba Fett? The first clone? The son of Jango!?”

“So he is a clone?” Kanan almost laughed. “I knew there was a reason I didn’t like him!”

“Wait…you guys didn’t know that?” Sabine snickered. “They taught us all about him at the Academy…”

“Educate us later!” Hera yelled. “Gah! I can’t shake him. Everybody hang on, we’re going to have to hide on Lok if we don’t want to get blown up!”

“Lok?” Sabine scoffed, “Why would anyone ever want to go there? It’s a wasteland!”

“We don’t have much choice…” Hera spoke quickly, “Chopper find us a place to crash, now!”

He rolled, more-like slammed into the side panels and tapped in, searching quickly until he found one and alerted Hera the very moment he did.

_WHOOP! WAH! BUH! WUH!_

“I know, but if we let him blast us and go in at full speed then he might think he struck us out of the sky. Get ready guys, this won’t be gentle.”

Kanan held onto anything he could grab and swallowed, “I hate it when you say things like that…”

She gave him the look again and shoved the controls forward, tipping the Ghost downward so quickly that fire started to block out the viewport. The ship rumbled and shook, most of the crew screaming or hollering in their own terrified ways before—

##  _**SLAM!** _

“Ugh…” Zeb was first to groan and pry his fingers out of their deadlock on his seat. “Are we dead?”

“Did you lose him?” Sabine breathed, her head still spinning from the sudden impact.

Hera rubbed at her head, but checked the monitors with a relieved sigh.

“Yeah… For now… Thanks Chopper.”

_BOOP! BUH! BOP! WAH!_

“Yeah,” she sighed, “I know it’s not good, but any landing you can walk away from is a good one. What’s the overall damage?”

_BUH! BEEP! BEEP! BOP!_

“Can we make it over to the port before it shuts down?” She asked.

Chopper blooped agreeably, and Hera slowly steered the crackling and rumbling ship into a space port that was nearby. It was touch and go, and it was possible that a few pieces of the ship fell off along the way, but they made it, and the Ghost coughed all the way to the ground before keeling over.

The Lok citizens of the spaceport all chattered as the strange sight of this ship died down, but they went back to their business soon after because no one really cared about one beat-up ship in a port full of junker vessels.  

“Alright Chopper,” Hera’s voice sighed reluctant to hear the answer to her own question. “How bad is it?”

_BUH! BEEP! BEEP! WHUP! BUH!_

“Well, I’ll take overheating instead of blowing-up any day. Shut everything down, and give the ship a chance to cool off, will you? Maybe we can buy the parts we need for repairs at the shops nearby.”

“Better hope they’re cheap,” Zeb muttered.

Chopper grumbled, but did as he was told and the Ghost’s power drained away into darkness.

Sabine eased herself into their conversation as Hera and Zeb argued about funds.

“Well, not that plummeting blindly onto a desert planet isn’t my idea of a good time or anything—But, does somebody want to tell me why Boba Fett is trying to blast us out of empty space?” Her voice grew eager the more she thought about a reason. “Wait, did you fight him once? Steal from him? Ooh! Are we one of his bounties!?”

“Calm down, it’s all Kanan’s fault,” Zeb pointed.

Sabine stared and Kanan merely shrugged it off.

“I may have thrown a rock or two at him a while back…” He stood, and rubbed at his neck which was on the verge of whiplash. “Guy isn’t much for a sense of humor.”

Sabine frowned, “What, that’s it?”

Hera stood and motioned for everyone to leave.

“Alright,” she sighed, “We’re going to need to lay low until the engines cool down. Let’s get walking to the nearest town and try our best to keep a low profile until Fett gets bored and takes off.”

Zeb and Chopper groaned all the way down the hall until Hera stopped the astromech with a point of her finger and said, “No Chopper, you stay here.”

“Aww! Why does he get to stay!?” Zeb complained.

“I need him to warn us if that bounty hunter shows up on Lok to find proof of our wreckage. With any luck he won’t care enough to come and check

Chopper buzzed happily at the assignment but stopped to tease Zeb, who still had to go outside to the wasteland.

Hera only sighed.

Sabine just sat in disbelief of Kanan’s reasons for incurring the wrath of one of the most famous Mandalorian bounty hunters in existence. She then turned and called out to them from her seat, “You guys are kidding…right?”

“Come on, Sabine!”

She stood and hurried after them.

“No… but you are joking, right? You had to have done something more impressive than that?”

To which Kanan only sighed.

* * *

 

“ _Ugh!_ And I thought Zeb smelled bad!” Sabine pinched her nose before putting her helmet on to escape the foul smelling air of planet Lok.

Zeb held his nose, but shoved her once, only for her to return a punch in his direction.

“Knock it off you two!” Kanan warned. He sniffed a few times and remembered this particular odor from somewhere in his youth—probably somewhere he and Janus had travelled. “It’s Sulphur,” he informed.

“Oh, you’re talking about the Grendin River,” a local said. “Better watch out, there is a Feeorin cantina near there. Newcomers like you will get robbed on sight.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Hera hummed. “Does the bar own the river, or is it free to the public? The extra water would help our engines cool a lot quicker.”

“Oh, it’s free,” the old man said with a scratch under his unshaved chin, “But you try pouring any of that on your ship and it’ll hurt your paint job—not to mention clog the pipes.”

“That’s right, it’s Sulphur water…” Sabine remembered, a hand slapping the forehead of her helmet. “Is there any other source of water on this planet?”

“Well, the river is how most of us get water in our homes. The only other source of liquid would be the mysterious oasis hidden within the Great Maze of Lok, but I’ve never heard of anyone ever getting to drink from it? Few people have ever even seen it—well, aside from the racers who make it through the Marathon without getting lost in the labyrinth.”

“A marathon? Now that sounds like something to see,” Kanan smirked.

“You’re in luck traveler,” the old man chuckled. “The big race is tomorrow. Until then, grab a drink—it’s just about all the fun you can have on this planet.”

“Ugh…” Sabine groaned, “You mean you people bathe and drink this stuff on a daily basis?”

“It’s supposed to be pretty healthy for organics from what I’ve heard,” Kanan informed. “If you can get past the smell…”

“I’d try it,” Zeb shrugged.

Kanan grinned, “Me too.”

“Alright, keep it together boys,” Hera warned, shaking the local’s hand as she said, “We’ll just have to take our chances with the river. Thank you, sir.”

“Anything for a pretty young thing like yourself!” He winked, a smile showing what five teeth he had left, as he blushed and added, “Hope it all goes well for you, young lady.”

Hera snickered, but took the compliment and left the spaceport with the rest of the crew,  _all of whom thought it would be a good idea to tease her about the old man’s apparent crush_  until they reached the bridge separating the spaceport from the cantina.

The river was yellow and smelled twice as awful as the air surrounding the planet, but the locals were still using the stained water to wash their clothes and dishes while others were carrying drums of it up the quarry to their homes. It was the only water they had—they couldn’t afford to be picky.

“Maybe Hera’s new  _boyfriend_ can give us a place to stay for the night?” Kanan teased.

Hera rolled her eyes and scanned the locals at the river as a young Twi’lek boy wandered closer to the water. He filled the handmade basket half his own height before dragging it back up the hill to the streets. It was heavy, but he managed to drag it well-enough. However, it was not the action that Hera studied, but the boy himself and his unique hand-woven water-basket. No one else at the river had one like it, and Hera recognized the craftsmanship as something she hadn’t seen since she was a child on Ryloth.

_The pattern, those colors, that shape…no, it couldn’t be?_

Hera removed Kanan’s hand without a word and wandered over to the small boy, who gave her a protective glare as he held tighter to his basket.

“Hello,” she said softly. Though not many noticed, her right lek raised slightly to him, a common way for Twi’leks to say hello without words. She tested him with this movement, and she watched to see if he would copy this motion too.

“Hi?” he spoke nervously, the tip of his long, orange lek raising back to her as his orange eyes searched her face in confusion.

“What is she doing?” Zeb wondered.

“Maybe you made her mad?” Sabine guessed with an added wink to make Kanan feel guilty.

He only shrugged and headed over there with a concerned frown. She wouldn’t get mad at something as small as teasing. But he did wonder  _what it was that she was doing, and who that little boy was?_

“My name is Hera,” she knelt down to him and smiled. “I like your basket, did you make it yourself?”

“No, my mom made it!” He softened slightly and pointed, “She’s right over there…Mom!” He called out, “Mom!”

Hera stood and watched as the Twi’lek woman left the small, _somewhat shady_ group she was speaking with, and hustled over to her son. He was her spitting image, orange skin with long lekku that fell almost to their waists. However, she had green eyes much like Hera’s own, whereas her son’s were the color of heated metal.

 _It couldn’t be?_  Hera thought again as she studied the woman and considered the possibilities, though she couldn’t be sure just yet.

“Anoon!” the mother scolded, “What did I tell you about bothering the tourists?”

She reprimanded him in a mixture of Basic and Ryl, revealing her thick accent, though her Ryl seemed more forced than speaking in Basic. She must have been living here for a while.

“But, I wasn’t!” He argued. “She said she liked your basket! Right lady?”

“Manners!” She hushed him and scooted his whole body behind her. “My apologies, but you know children…”

Hera tested her lek again as she spoke. She had to be sure…

“No, no, it was my fault,” she said. “I’m afraid I saw the basket and it reminded me of the ones we used to make on Ryloth when I was a little girl.”

The other woman smiled at the gesture and returned the greeting.

“You are from Ryloth?” She beamed. “You cannot tell from your voice, but your lekku give you away.” She tapped the basket with her finger and sighed, “Yes, we were taught to make these when we were young. There was not much else to do back in those days, what with the Clone Wars ravaging the land above.”

Hera wanted to believe that it was true, she felt the sureness of it in her gut, but it was so farfetched—she couldn’t let herself be certain of it for fear she might be wrong. She had to try…

“My father always did like to keep us busy with lessons or crafts…”

She laughed and nodded before giving the green Twi’lek a second look of deliberation.

“Wait…” the woman said, her voice blending a swarm of emotions before her lips could make out the word… “Hera?” She smiled wider as her eyes grew large with realization. “Hera Syndulla!?”

“Mala?”

She gasped and shot across the space between them to deliver a suffocating hug before both started to tear up and squeal excitedly over words that no one completely understood.

“I can’t believe I found you!” Hera said, she took in a breath and squeezed tighter. “I saw your son and he just looked so much like you—then I saw the basket, and I couldn’t stop myself from coming over.”

“What a small galaxy this is!” Mala burst. “I thought I would never see you again—not after Tatooine!”

“How did you get here? I’ve been so worried about you!”

The Ghost crew walked up on the reunion in complete confusion, and Kanan’s voice longed for an explanation.

“Hera…what’s going on?”

Mala gave him a hard stare with a crooked smirk of thought before studying the other two members of the crew.

“Who is this?” she wondered with a smirk.

Hera felt a blush forming, but she wasn’t sure why exactly and got rid of it before anyone could see.

“This is my crew…” Hera introduced them proudly. “Kanan, Zeb, and Sabine.” She turned to them and motioned with her hand, “This is Mala and her son, Anoon.”

“Wait…” Kanan stepped in quickly, an excitement that the orange Twi’lek did not predict. “Mala—as in Mala Syndulla?” He froze and looked to Hera with a goofy smile of excitement that Sabine and Zeb didn’t know the meaning to. “Hera, is this your sister!?”

She grinned and nodded.

Kanan thought he might hug her—or her sister. He held it back of course, but the excitement could not be contained and he smiled widely at them. “It’s a pleasure to meet you!” He bowed slightly—probably some old Jedi custom sneaking back in. Hera thought. Kanan never bowed to anyone.

“Hera has a sister?” Zeb mumbled. “Did you know?”

Sabine shrugged.

“I’ve heard so much about you from Hera,” Kanan continued. “We tried to find you not that long ago on Tatooine when we saved all those dancers. We have been looking for you all over the place—and I mean all over the—oof!”

Hera slapped him in the stomach once until he silenced and she shushed him under her breath.

“That was you guys?” Anoon chimed in with a wide, pointy smile. “Are you the rebels?”

Mala slapped a hand across his mouth and motioned for them to follow her inside a small apartment-like building that was nearby. “Come inside,” she said. “There are too many listeners out here to speak of such things.”

Zeb picked up the water basket for Anoon, lifting it as though it were nothing, much to the young boy’s admiration. They followed Mala up the road and into her home which was not far from the river, but shabby and run down as though it had seen many better days in a long time far forgotten.  _Then again,_  judging by the neighboring building, the entire cluttered street dwelling might have been in a similar state.

“Please sit,” Mala motioned to a dreary green couch as she locked the door behind her.

Refusing the offer, Hera spoke with great concern over to her sister. “Mala, what’s going on? Why isn’t it safe?”

She shoved her once and spoke in a whisper that was a confusing blend of angry and elated.  “You mean to tell me that it was you? You are the rebels who stole Jabba’s slaves, Hera?”

“You heard about that?” She wondered.

“Everyone in this part of the galaxy heard about that!” She snapped. “You are wanted criminals on Tatooine! And any neighboring sectors that do business with the Hutts!”

“I thought you said they were heroes, Mom?” the boy blurted.

“They are,” she said, before frowning. “Dangerous, reckless, rebellious heroes.” Mala softened before shaking her head with a laugh… “I see not much has changed in you, Hera.”

“We’re actually hiding from one of Jabba’s hired thugs now,” Kanan informed.

“When we heard a rumor that led us to Tatooine, we went looking for you at Jabba’s Palace,” Hera informed. “And, when you weren’t there…we didn’t want to leave any of the other slaves, so we freed as many as we could and took them to a safe home on the other side of the galaxy.”

“Now all we know is that we have a Mandalorian bounty hunter who’s bent on destroying us and we could really use a place to stay the night until it all blows over,” Zeb added.

Mala blinked.

“Yours is truly the exciting life, Hera,” she smiled. “Of course you and your crew are welcome to stay. Anything for my daring little sister.”

“Wait!” Zeb stopped suddenly. “You mean to tell me that breaking into the Hutt Palace was all to find Hera’s sister? It wasn’t just some random rebel act of kindness?”

Kanan and Hera shrunk.

“Well—” Kanan stretched. “Not the first time…but when we went back—”

“Wait, wait wait,” He grumbled. “You went in there twice!?”

“I’m sorry, Zeb,” Hera interrupted, her look sincere, though she couldn’t offer him any further explanation. “You have every right to be angry…”

He pouted, but looked to the group before scoffing, “No, I guess I can’t blame you? Heads up might have been nice though?”

“Hold on a second,” Sabine added. “I’m still confused. I learned all about Cham Syndulla at the Academy, and I only ever read about him having one daughter—and that was you, Hera, wasn’t it?”

“The name Syndulla is a common one in my clan,” she explained with a soft look in her eyes. “Mala and I were raised together, we played together, lived underground for most of our childhood. We might as well be sisters.”

“Though, I suppose you could say we are more like…  _cousins_?” Mala guessed for an appropriate word.

“I—” Sabine sat back down quietly. “I guess I know what that’s like…”

“By the way, how is Cham? I bet he is still the same.” She sighed, “He must have been worried sick after that raid. He must have sent an army to find you after we were taken hostage.”

“Uh…” Kanan cleared his throat, cutting the air around it in attempt to alert everyone that it was a touchy subject.

“We—well—I—” Hera took a breath. “I really don’t know what he’s doing. I haven’t seen him in years.”

“You haven’t!?” Mala gasped. “Why would you ever do such a thing, he is your father!? I know you didn’t always get along, but Hera—how could you do that to him? And after what happened to your mother!”

The room filled with silence as Hera shrunk even further in shame. Sabine, Zeb, and young Anoon were all confused beyond belief as they stared between the two Twi’lek women.  

“Welp—” Kanan clapped suddenly, “I think it’s time we get that water, or a tour of the house—anything that isn’t this. Anoon, would you mind helping out?”

“Sure! I’ll show you my dad’s speeder!”

“Great,” he cleared his throat and snapped his fingers for the others. “Zeb, Sabine…”

They got up and followed reluctantly while Hera and Mala waited in silence for the longest while until they were gone.

“What happened?” She finally asked.

“I stole a ship and escaped,” Hera said. “But I got lost and wound up making a life for myself with some new friends who helped me fly and fight for a bigger purpose than just myself…”

“The Rebellion?” Mala guessed. “Knowing you, I imagine that you are working under someone bigger? You never were one to dream small. The others don’t know that, do they?”

“Not really,” she shrugged. “It’s safer that way.”

Mala nodded, but after a moment of thought she stomped her foot and huffed. “But what about your father? After your mother died—losing you—he must be worried sick, Hera!”

She looked down because she could not bare to see her face when she told her the truth.

“I’ve been fighting the Empire since I was 14. But I was too afraid… too weak to go back home and face my father. I was having too much fun with the freedom. And—I was too much of a coward to go back to Tatooine to find you.”

“But you did,” she tried to fight it, but the smirk still appeared on her face. She couldn’t stay mad at Hera, she never could. “You and your friends, you did go back for me, and you saved others in doing so. Cham would be proud of that much.”

Hera smiled.

“Well, I guess I shouldn’t berate you so hard. I’ll bet he’s heard all about your work on the holonet or from Empire feedback near Tatooine.”

“You think?” She smirked, a brow raised.

Mala shrugged and took a seat as she hummed, “I suppose anything is possible if even the barren planet Lok can hear about your great escapades?”

“Well…enough about me,” Hera said quickly. “What happened to you? How did you get all the way out here?”

Mala frowned.

“I was sold into slavery near Mos Eisley,” she said. “I worked at a couple of cantinas nearby for years until a traveler bought me and brought me here. A handsome Twi’lek man who would later become my husband.” She hugged her arms together and sighed. “He was a good man.”

“Oh Mala, I’m so sorry…”

“It’s alright.” She said. “His name was Jer Vesta, and he was a fearless swoop racer. He took part in the Lok Marathon for years, and every race I feared might be his last. There are many dangers in this race, the beasts, the murderers, the terrain… but he told me I shouldn’t worry.” She hugged her arms and smiled brightly. “Oh, he loved racing, but during the last marathon—” She frowned. “—He didn’t come out of the Highlands, and all they found when they sent out a search party was his bike.”

“That’s terrible!”

“If that wasn’t enough, now Anoon wants to follow in Jer’s footsteps, but I don’t know if I can handle him racing. I don’t know what I would do if I lost them both.” She sighed took a seat. “Oh Hera, you were always the gallant pilot—I never could stomach the nerves to be so brave.”

“But you did so much more,” she argued. “Remember all those times you covered for me with Father so I could sneak up and tinker with those crashed ships—or all those times you stood up for me because I was welding in my room and my father insisted it was a waste of my time. You stood up to him just so I could have a few more minutes to work, and if that wasn’t bravery, I don’t know what is.”

Mala smiled.

“Well,” she chuckled lightly. “I guess that’s something.” She cleared her throat and got a look on her face. “Enough of all this sadness, sister. So tell me more about this crew of yours. That Kanan is awfully handsome, isn’t he? How did you manage to recruit someone like him?”

“What—I—No,  _I guess I hadn’t noticed… Is he_?” Hera blushed and stammered on her words. “He is a lot of things, but I suppose you could say he is persistent. I couldn’t get rid of him if I’d tried.”

“Alright, I know that look,” she smiled. “Spill it… I want to hear everything.”

Hera laughed, “How much time do you have?”

* * *

 

“This is it!” Anoon pointed, “My dad’s speeder!”

“A Joben T-85 Speeder Bike,” Kanan whistled. “She’s quite a model.”

“From the Zebulon Dak Speeder Corporation,” Sabine awed, “These were one of the fastest speeders on the market a few years back! Impressive… Look at that paint job!”

“ _Ugh…_  Bike-talk,” Zeb groaned and rolled his eyes and leaned into the corner.

“My Mom doesn’t like me playing on it,” Anoon huffed, but crawled on top of the seat anyway, his feet dangling off the sides. He frowned and continued… “I wish I could compete this year, but I’m still too young. The race is tomorrow, and I’ve never even got to ride on it without my Dad driving.”

“Yeah, it’ll take a few more years of growing until you can reach the ground on this thing,” Zeb laughed.

“I know,” He jumped down and ran over to the other side of the room and pulled a cloth off of a contraption in the corner. “This is my bike!” Anoon pointed to a slightly smaller model, unfinished and unpainted. “Dad was helping me build it before his accident.” He sighed. “Without him, I’m not sure if I’ll ever get it finished… I don’t know a lot about building.”

“What accident?” Kanan went ahead and asked, even though Zeb and Sabine couldn’t believe he actually had the guts to just come out and say it.

“He was racing in the marathon last year and got lost—we don’t know where he is, but they brought us back his bike.” He got a struggled face before he added, “They keep telling me that he won’t come home, but I think he still could. He promised we’d finish building my speeder so we could cruise together.”

All three frowned, but Sabine was the first to pick up the conversation.

“You know,” she smiled. “If you want…I can help you finish it, while you wait for him—It looks like you just need a few parts to get it going.”

“Really!?” He perked up. “If you did that then I could make it to the race, and I could win just like my Dad used to do! And then maybe he’ll come back and see me race!”

He handed them the crumpled flyer that advertised the race, and Kanan saw that the race was supposed to be long and treacherous, not to mention illegal.

“What’s so special about this race, kid?” Zeb asked.

“Well, it’s one of the bravest things you can do around here, and there’s a cool maze, a huge volcano! Oh and there’s a big reward for the winner at the end!”

Kanan sensed the joy coming from around the bike, a feeling that came from a man who was no longer around, yet one who had a lot of good years racing on this very speeder. The same fire of passion emanating from his son now could be sensed with or without the Force.

“Dad used to win the race all the time—but since he’s been gone, Mom has been having a hard time making money,” he sighed. “She’s really tired, and sometimes people come by to yell at her, but she’s really trying! I try to help out, but I don’t know what I can do to get the mean guys to stop yelling at her. But, if I can win the race,” he smiled, “Then maybe she’ll be happy again, like when my dad was around!”

“Whoa there,” Kanan pointed to the paper. “There’s no way you’re racing on this thing by tomorrow.”

“Sorry kid, but even if we get the bike working,” Sabine added. “You’ll have to practice on it for a few years until you’re ready to race in the big leagues.”

“Aww…” He pouted. “But, how else can I help my mom?”

Kanan looked to the bike and to the flyer, then to the young Twi’lek boy with the dangerous dreams. He was a lot like that when he was a kid. There was no sign of the bounty hunter yet, so maybe Hera was able to play off their landing like a hit and crash after all? The Ghost was cooling down anyway—What the heck, why not?

“I’ll do it,” he blurted.

“What?” The three of them exclaimed.

Kanan bent a knee and placed his hand on Anoon’s shoulder.

“If you let me borrow your father’s bike, then I’d like to complete this race for you.”

“Wow really!?”

“Yeah,” Zeb chortled. “Really Kanan?”

“What about keeping a low profile?” Sabine stressed.

“What could happen?” Kanan chuckled. “So what do you think, Anoon, do we have a deal?”

He held out his hand, which the young boy took and shook vigorously.

“Deal!”

“Alright,” he clapped, “but I have one more condition…”

“What is it?” the boy asked.

“Can I take her for a test drive?”

“You’ve never ridden a speeder before, have you?” Sabine blurted.

“What? No…” Kanan motioned. “It’s just—been awhile?” He looked over the bike and added, “So how do I start one of these babies up without hot wiring it?”

To which the three only slapped their foreheads in reply.

* * *

 

Despite the setback, Kanan made it to the river in no time at all. He couldn’t believe how fast this speeder was! It had been years since he’d been on one of these, but never one as nice as this. Kanan marveled at at the setting sun on the yellow river as he gave himself over to the beautiful speeder bike. He wound up parking by the bridge just to let all these good feelings seep in. He hadn’t had a rush like this since—he wasn’t really sure?

“So we’re all in agreement?”

“Mala Vesta is going to pay us what she owes—”

His serene smile quickly flipped to a frown as he overheard a conversation coming from the bar a few feet behind him. Kanan listened closer, pretending to still be looking at the view, though everything inside of him went back to rebel spy-mode with just those few simple words.

“And what her no good husband owes us!”

“Tailhead is lucky he went and got himself killed in last year’s race…”

“Can’t say his family will be so lucky after we get through with them!”

 _That was the final straw…_  Kanan had heard enough.

“Couldn’t help but overhear your little arrangement—” he parked the speeder and made his way to their group. His bright eyes glared, but his lips formed a little crooked grin. It had been ages since his last bar fight. 

_Maybe this night could still be saved after all?_

“What’s it to you outlander?”

“Hey look,” one pointed. “That’s Vesta’s bike.”

“Ah… so you’re cozy with Vesta’s wife, are you?”

“She never mentioned you.”

“I’m a friend of the family,” Kanan inched. “What exactly does Mala owe you guys?”

“What do you think?” One snarled. “She’s got debts to pay and no credits to pay up.”

“And if she doesn’t get us what she owes, then we’re going to have to find other ways to settle her debt. It’s business, and it doesn’t concern the likes of you, less of course you wanna settle her debt?”

Kanan nearly lost the restraint not to punch him in the face, and oh how he wanted to fight them. Instead he swallowed back his anger and pointed to the speeder bike.

“Well, I’m racing for the Vestas in the Lok Marathon tomorrow!” He told them off with a smug grin and pointed his finger into the chest of the lead debt harasser… “And when I win, you’ll get your money and leave Mala and her son alone, permanently. You got that?”

The men all laughed hysterically.

“You think you can win? You?”

“Racers have been trying and dying in this race for years, what makes you think some outlander can just stroll in and win?”

“Tell you what newcomer,” the big guy snarled. “You win in this race, and not only will we forget about Mala’s current debts, but we’ll never charge her for anything in town ever again!”

“Yeah!” The rest of them laughed.

“Okay deal,” Kanan smiled devilishly at them and held out his hand.

The big guy shook it before spitting on the ground near Kanan’s boot and laughing thunderously at how futile Kanan’s odds were in this race.

“Hope you’ve made your peace with death!” one called.

Kanan scoffed and returned to his seat before driving the speeder back to Mala’s home, his growing excitement for joining this race increasing with every passing second.

_Oh yeah, this was going to be fun, just like old times._

* * *

 

“I haven’t heard from the boys or Sabine in a while?” Hera said.

“I think Anoon was helping them in the garage? Should we be worried?”

The whooshing zooms and revving of a speeder bike zipping down the street rattled the house slightly as the two Twi’lek women stared blankly outside.

“Jer’s bike!” Mala gasped, rushing outside only to see Kanan parked nearby.

“Kanan!” Hera hollered. “What in the world do you think you’re doing!?”

“Mom! Mom!” Anoon cheered. “Kanan’s going to race for us in the Marathon tomorrow!”

“What!?” Both Hera and Mala exclaimed.

“And Sabine is helping me finishing building my bike!”

“What?” They said again.

“Kanan, get off of that thing, right now!” Hera stamped.

“No can do, I made a promise to help Anoon…” He gave her one of his impish grins. “So I’m afraid my hands are tied.

“You are a fool if you think you can win the race tomorrow, much less survive it!” Mala was furious. “Did Anoon tell you what happened to his father last year? Did he tell you how dangerous the Lok Marathon is?!”

Kanan nodded his head.

“But you need help… and more than you’ve been letting on.”

“Mala? What is he talking about?”

“It’s just a few debts,” she frowned, shooting a particularly nasty glare at Kanan.

“Those men you were talking to back in town…” Hera recalled. “Mala, you should have told me, we can help you.”

“With what?” Sabine whispered to Zeb, “We don’t have any credits…”

Zeb shoved her and they bickered for a moment before silencing.

“That’s why I’m racing tomorrow… I’m going to win and get your debts settled—for good.” Kanan spoke seriously, thought a flick of his head in Hera’s direction made his grin return. “We’re not going anywhere until our ship gets fixed, and Chopper hasn’t warned us that Fett followed us down. We can’t afford not to gain from this. We have nothing to lose.”

“Nothing but your life!” Mala barked.

“Come on Mom!”

“No!”

“Mala… _Do tarhan dan mtan jid jeo rid,_ ”  Hera spoke sternly, shocking everyone when her voice shifted into her native language.

“ _Qa!?_ ” Mala exclaimed. “ _Hao ohsid koa ceinireae Do ohk elan ar jid cea y rid tlaran jei dec or dan ji ceinireae Jer aan ohk or san!_   _Ish sil ohk lar kay ish ohk a kenk'irenur!_ ”

“ _Do ktan, kay ish ohk sei kenk'irenur! Jid jeo nie cea y toe dan. Jid geo fa'kan dan._ ”

Kanan leaned over to Anoon and whispered, “Hey kid, what are they saying?”

“Well…” he struggled because they spoke so quickly, but Anoon did manage to pick out a few words here and there. “They said you’re handsome.”

Kanan blushed with that look forming on his face. “R-really?”

“Yeah, but they also called you dumb…”

“Oh…” Kanan’s face dropped, “Well that’s more like it…”

“Fine,” Mala broke. “Fine! Fine! You want to get yourself killed, be my guest! But we will not watch you throw away your life! Come inside Anoon, it is time for bed!”

Her lekku were pointed at her back in an aggressive manner, as Hera tried to calm her down, but Mala wouldn’t let it happen. She took Anoon’s hand to drag him back inside as his complaints and protests went ignored.

“But Mom!”

“No buts!”

The doors shut and Kanan cringed as Hera sighed and turned slowly towards him. She didn’t have to say a word because he saw the questioning look in her eyes.

“Can you two give us a minute?” Hera sighed.

Zeb nodded and drug Sabine behind him and back into the garage. She wanted to listen, but Zeb had one of those feelings like he should give them a bit of privacy after this kind of fight.

“So?” She leaned back with her arms folded, awaiting her explanation now that the kids were all gone.

“They’re in really deep,” Kanan explained. “A group of sleemos were about to march over here and do who-knows-what if Mala didn’t get them their money. They were making threats just outside the bar.”

“You’re sure?” Hera knew the answer, but she wanted to hear him say it. Her eyebrows were arched at their maximum level of aggravation. How dare they threaten Mala and her son.

Kanan nodded and Hera did so back at him, the deal they made now sealed by the look each of them had in their eyes.

“I’ll try to calm her down.” She said softly. “This race is dangerous. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“You worried?”

She was, but she didn’t let on. Instead she placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.

“It’s not the craziest thing you’ve ever done…”

“I’ll be careful.”

“I would hope so,” she grinned turned to go inside. But stopped halfway and gave him a sultry tease. “By the way, that Joben looks good on you.”

“Is that why you said I was so handsome?” he teased back.

She rolled her eyes.

“That was Mala,” Hera pointed. “I was the one who was calling you a fool.”

“You sure about that?” Kanan smirked and started the speeder back up, his arm stretching down the bike, revving it slightly in a teasing manner before he accidentally began to tilt sideways. He leveled it with an ungraceful whoop, but played it off with a goofy looking grin.

“ _Oh, I’m sure…_ ” Hera smiled, before disappearing into the house. Kanan watched for a moment before composing himself and driving the bike back into the storage space.

_Something was telling him that Mala was going to make him sleep in the garage for this… it was best to avoid them for the night._

* * *

 

“How’d she take it?” Zeb chuckled knowingly.

“Bout’ like you’d expect?” he shrugged.

“We didn’t hear anymore shouting, so I guess that’s good?” Sabine chuckled and pointed. “Zeb, pass me that wrench.”

He did and Sabine took it with a thank you aimed in Zeb’s direction before going back to her work on Anoon’s bike.

Kanan was a little surprised that they weren’t bickering or threatening to tear each other’s arms off.

“Wait? You two are actually working together?”

“It’s a truce,” Zeb coughed. “Till we get the kid’s bike fixed.”

“Aww, that’s so nice of you!” Kanan said, his voice laced with mockery.

Sabine scoffed and rolled her eyes as Zeb gave Kanan a shove and grumbled… “Don’t you think you should get ready for your big race tomorrow?”

“Oh, but it is just so heartwarming…seeing you two work together… really it just— _gets me right in here!_ ” he pounded a fist near his heart and sniffed once, pretending to shed a tear.

“OUT!” Sabine growled and threw the wrench at him, only for Kanan to dodge it with a laugh, and retreat with his well-being still intact.

“Hey! Kanan!” a whisper erupted from the door, where Anoon beckoned the daring racer into the hall.

“What’s up?” he smirked. “Your mom still mad at me?”

“Big time!” Anoon nodded, but I wanted to give you this!” He handed him a pile of rolled up parchments and shoved them all into Kanan’s arms.

“Whoa… what’s all this?”

“The race!” Anoon pointed. “This is every map for every sector of the Lok Marathon. You should study them to make sure you don’t get lost tomorrow!”

Kanan’s eyes grew wide when he saw all the reading he was about to have to do. “Wow…” his voice cracked. “I don’t know what to say…”

“Your welcome,” the boy grinned. “Mom doesn’t want us to watch you race tomorrow, but I’m going to go anyway… I can’t wait to watch you win.”

“And you’re so sure I’m going to win?” he frowned.

The boy nodded his head up and down sporadically. “Aren’t you?”

“Well yeah,” he sniffed and rubbed his knuckles against his shirt collar before adding. “But, I just wondered where all your faith in me comes from.”

The boy thought about it for a moment.

“I guess its because you act a lot like my dad. And he always won every race!”

“Anoon! It is time for bed! Now!” Mala’s voice pierced the hall and made the two boys jump.

Regardless, he rushed over to Kanan and hugged him around the neck, his voice whispering out, “Good luck tomorrow…”

Kanan patted his back with a baffled look on his face until Anoon turned and hurried off to bed before his mother came looking for him and got the two into even more trouble.

He snuck back into the garage a moment later and scattered all the papers along the floor. He figured he would just wing the race—but now that he really thought about it, there was so much riding on it—and so much against him. Maybe a quick review of the land would be in his best interest. Kanan didn’t really care for studying… he never did. But for Anoon, he’d make a small exception.

“I thought you were leaving?” Zeb started.

Kanan waved the air away from him as a form of reply.

Already he was nose deep into the many different warning labels and maps of the Lok Marathon terrain. He slid into the floor across from Zeb and Sabine, and did not look up from his studies for any reason. All too soon, the noises of their work drained away and Kanan found himself entirely immersed in the dangerous and daring world of jump racing.


End file.
